6.29.2007

Because my original post about the rules of my giveaway contest were a little unclear (some readers initially choose words taken directly from the August post - sorry!), I'm sending out two pairs of Grey Goose earrings to two contest winners. The lucky recipients are Erin (no, not the Erin who won the last contest - she graciously sat this one out) and Holly. Erin chose the word "verbose," which I thought was all too appropriate in response to my wordy explanation of the rules of the giveaway. And Holly choose the word "vintage," which was the very word that my finger landed on in the August post. Erin's word was the closest, and Holly's word was spot on. So, ladies, please send me an e-mail at sulu-design.blogspot.com with your addresses, and Grey Geese will be hanging from your ears in no time! Thanks to everyone for playing along. I choked with laughter at a few of your choices. Someone ought to organize a psychological study into the word choices each of you made. It's embarrassing how much I love these contests and your reponses to them. Expect more in the future.

6.28.2007

Not working during the summer mean lots of time for shop updates. Yeah, I know, I just updated the shop. Well, I went and did it again. Images are links to the earrings pictured. Or check out my etsy shop for the complete line-up.

Now I think I ought to make some iced tea and put my feet up... ah, summer. Enjoy it - I am!

6.27.2007

Yahoo - school's out! And in order to celebrate the last day of the New York City school year, I'm giving away another pair of sulu-design earrings. This time, the giveaway is for a specific pair of earrings, the Grey Goose design. There are a few of them in my etsy shop, too, just in case you aren't the lucky winner and you'll die without them (we wouldn't want that).

For this contest, I've figured out the most ridiculously contrived set-up to find a winner. I thought a school-related game of chance would be appropriate. It's a bit of a stretch. Humor me. When it comes to academics, my students know that I'm pretty confident in all subject areas (it's hard not to be confident in the content of third grade curriculum). That is, I'm confident in all subjects other than spelling. I've always got a dictionary within arm's reach. I double-check half of the words that I use in my blog posts. And often, in my classroom, I stop in the middle of writing on the board to make sure I've not made a spelling error that my students might copy into their notebooks, scarring them for life. My poor spelling skills are the basis for this contrived contest:I clicked my way back to one of my posts from last August that I wrote while I was preparing my classroom for the now-ended school year. With that post centered on my computer screen, I closed my eyes, put my finger on a random spot on the post, and recorded the word that I'd pointed to. Here's where you come in. To enter the giveaway, leave a one-word post. Just one word. A random word. A word that has nothing at all to do with my original post. A word that you mutter in your sleep. The first word you see on your nightstand. Just pick one word. Do it by noon on Friday, NYC time. The winner of the contest will be the person whose word is closest in my Webster's Dictionary to the random word I chose from my August post (so if our words start with the same letter, you chances are pretty good. Get it?). How's that for ridiculously contrived? The winner will be announced Friday evening. Good luck, play fair, and don't forget to do your homework.

6.26.2007

I just got off the phone with my dad, who is very slowly but surely recovering from his Memorial Day Weekend motorcycle accident. The word "risk" had a central role in our conversation. When my father first bought his motorcycle, many people told him he was crazy - that the risk he was taking by getting on a bike was a foolish one. Motorcylces are dangerous. And they are unnecessary. Why chance an accident by riding one of them? To me, to my family, and to many of my father's friends, though, the risk he took in riding his bike was well-calculated and well-worth it. My father always wore a helmet. He started off on a small bike and moved up to a more powerful one after gaining lots of riding exprience. He took and passed motorcycle safety courses. He watched safety videos and learned good motorcycle driving techniques. He obeyed traffic laws. He did what he could do to minimize the risk of an accident. Those efforts, in combination with the amount of pleasure and the astoundingly positive perspective on life that riding brought to him made the risk he was taking seem reasonable to us. And, while this may sound completely insane, if once he's fully recovered my father decides that he wants to get back on his bike, I'll fully support his decision (but if he never wants to set eyes on a bike again, I'll understand, too). My point is: nothing that is worthwhile or truly fulfilling in life comes without risk. Risk of having your heart broken. Risk of being rejected. Risk of being lonely. Risk of failure. Risk of making a fool of yourself. Risk of having to go back where you started from. Risk of experiencing pain.I mention all of this now because, not so coincidentally, the word "risk" has been playing over and over in my mind during the past few weeks. I'm on the verge of a pretty big risk myself, and I'm thrilled by what may come of it. I've been itching to tell you about it... and I promise that details will soon follow. However, I was hoping that those of you who are risk-takers (or even those of you who don't consider yourself to be risk-takers by nature but have taken a risk or two nonetheless) would be willing to share with me and the readers of my blog a particular risk that you have taken and its outcome, be it positive, negative, or both. I've been curious to know what risks you may have taken that perhaps were seen as crazy by others but seemed reasonable it to you. I'd like to know if, in hindsight, the risk really was worth it, and why or why not. Thanks in advance for sharing your stories. I'll be back soon with mine.

Oh, and about these random photos...Happy 80th Birthday to Coney Island's Cyclone Rollercoaster!Talk about a risk - have you ever ridden this thing?

Blue skies, mild summer weather, lots of picture-taking while on a long, lovely stroll, a pedicure for my blistered feet (running has its drawbacks), a refreshing beer at my favorite local watering hole while writing letters to friends, lots of progress in preparation for Monday's sulu-design etsy shop update, and this:

An awesome new shop, SITE, recently opened in my my neighborhood. Yesterday, I popped in for the first time and met Mackenzi, the unbelieveably friendly owner. She rocks. Her store is so airy and fresh. She carries lots of items made by independent designers, many of whom are etsy shop proprietors, and as of yesterday, she carries sulu-design! There are 26 pairs of sulu-design earrings available at SITE, located at 35-11 34th Avenue, in Long Island City or Astoria (depending on where you choose to draw you lines in these parts). I'm thrilled to have my pieces for sale among the original artwork, housewares, and other funky selections at SITE.

If this weekend gets any better, which it's shaping up to do, I might just burst. Enjoy the rest of yours!

6.23.2007

I have gushed on and on (and on - would somebody please stop me?) about weekend love before, and, man, is that love in full force today. I'm holding down the fort myself this weekend, and have lots of fun-for-one plans. They include going on early morning runs in Astoria Park, sitting in our sunny corner while drinking mugful upon mugful of coffee and listening to my favorite NPR shows, eating my fair share of perfectly ripe berries and cherries, going on a few long Original Intent walks in the amazing weather we've got here in NYC, and taking care of some sulu-design business - getting ready for this week's major shop update takes a lot of work!

I'll also be snacking on what's left of my version of Wende's yummy apricot ginger scones. You know by now that I can never follow a recipe exactly as it's written. I substituted skim milk and fat free half and half - don't be scared, it's actually pretty good - and the results were scrumptious. So what's left isn't much. Barry was a big fan of these. Something about them - the spicy ginger, I guess - tasted a bit sausagey to him. In our house, sausage = good. So good, in fact, that Barry thinks Wende ought to market these as the Boca Burger version of sausage biscuits. He may be on to something there, Wende. You know, something to do when you're not busy working on your Thrifty Goodness Store? Wishing all of you sweet weekends, too!

6.19.2007

~ There are 38 new sulu-design earrings at JetSet in Richmond (and there's a fabulous new top in my closet from JetSet, too. Nice how that works, right?)

~ Barry had an awesome finish in his race this weekend, and might even be able to convince me to do a little more trail running with him, based on all the fun he had with this one. Big congratulations to my cousin, Bonnie, who also had a fabulous finish in her race (way over on her side of the continent) this weekend, too.

~I said it before, I'll say it again. Mike and Judy are the coolest in-laws a girl could hope for, and spending a weekend at their house is always a great time. After a visit there, I return to work a thoroughly refreshed woman. My students thank you.

~ I have sweet blog buddies like Robyn who send me goodies when life gets rough:

I swear that I wasn't dropping hints when I raved about this cuff that she was putting in her etsy shop, but I can't say that I'm sorry I did so. Ain't it cute? Check out the handmade card - one of two that she sent.

And these beads! Each pair came individually wrapped in a cute little fabric pouch tied with matching ribbon. I can't wait to work with them. She also sent along an additional package of beads and a lovely-smelling sachet. Thank you, Robyn, for being such a consistently thoughtful friend.

~ I have a knitting friend - yes, some people in my knitting group actually insist on knitting at our meet ups... okay, not some people, just Helen - who pays close attention to things I mention in my blog and she made me the perfect black, white, and red goodies for my kitchen:

~ My uber impressive brother-in-law, Tony, was quoted in the New York Times today in an article about efforts to save a Marcel Breuer building in Cleveland that is slated to be demolished. Always fighting the good fight, that Tony!

~ Six days and counting until the last day of school, which will coincide with a major update to the sulu-design etsy shop.

~ Another sulu-design giveaway is in the works. I had way too much fun with the last one, so I'm planning another one right around the corner. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, these guys are on their merry way to Erin:

I hope you had an unexpectedly fabulous Tuesday. May your Wedsnedays rock!